Patient Spotlight

Gabrielle Campbell's Success Story

Gabrielle Campbell suffered from the same injury that is so popular among female athletes. On April 16, 2012 Gabby was playing soccer in the State Cup Game. She wasn't in her usual position as defender, she was playing striker. She was going after the ball when she twisted on her right leg. From across the field, her father heard the pop of her knee. She went down and she knew something was seriously wrong. She needed to be carried off the field and rushed straight to the ER. Her X-ray was negative and she was referred to a sports medicine specialist. The following day she saw Dr. Peter DeLuca of The Rothman Institute. She was diagnosed with an anterior cruciate ligament tear, meniscus tear, and a medial collateral ligament sprain. Surgery was scheduled for May 24th. Although Gabby went through a great deal of emotions, she was resigned to her situation and ready to take this injury head on.

Gabby started physical therapy at The Training Room prior to surgery. She needed to prepare her knee for surgery. This first month of physical therapy educated Gabby about what was to come over the next 7-9 months. She got to meet many other young females who had undergone ACL reconstructions and hear their stories of surgery and recovery. Gabby worked hard and prepared herself for surgical reconstruction of her ACL along with medial meniscal repair.

She underwent surgery on May 24, 2012. The pain was rough for the first few weeks. Gabby then returned to physical therapy 2 weeks after surgery. She was still in a lot of pain, but she was determined to work hard and make a speedy recovery. Gabby spent the next 7 months in physical therapy. Initially, she worked hard on gaining her range of motion, learning to walk without a limp, and firing up her quadriceps muscles. She progressed to more functional activities including squatting and lunging.

A big milestone came 4 months later when Gabby began to run again. At first she had some pain and a mild limp, but after a few days of running, Gabby was able to run on a treadmill without any difficulty. She continued to progress to jumping on two legs, then one leg, then with twists and while catching a ball. This last stage of physical therapy was geared towards preparing her for Velocity's Bridge Program.

Gabby was cleared by Dr. DeLuca to increase her activity and begin some light agility drills. She started the Bridge Program in December of 2012. Under the supervision of Velocity's Performance Director Trae Toliver, Gabby began advanced movement drills including agility ladder, change of direction, and plyometrics. She continued the hard work of strengthening her right leg, balancing her right to left sides and front to back muscles, and conditioning her body to prepare for returning to sports. Not only did she attend the Bridge Program two nights per week, she went to the gym and worked out on her own.

For the next 5 months Gabby continued to religiously attend the Bridge Program and be compliant with her home exercises. She never lost her focus and rarely missed a training session. She got back on the soccer field in March when she was fully released to play. She has now returned to soccer and to date she has played in 14 games.

We chose to highlight Gabby's story to show how hard work and perseverance pays off in recovering from such a devastating injury. ACL tears are a growing epidemic in female athletes and not everyone experiences such success in their recovery. Gabby has been a model patient and an excellent role model for others who are going through this same process. We are so proud of Gabby and look forward to her continued success!!!